


Just a Bite

by MommyMortem



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Adult Morty Smith, Aged-Up Morty Smith, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Captivity, Dark, Declarations Of Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Human/Vampire Relationship, Jealousy, Love Confessions, M/M, Obsession, Obsessive Behavior, Past Relationship(s), Prison, Slow Burn, Stockholm Syndrome, Unhealthy Relationships, Vampire Bites, Vampire Rick, Vampire Turning, Vulnerable Rick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25987600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MommyMortem/pseuds/MommyMortem
Summary: Morty is captured by vampire Rick and kept in captivity until Rick needs to feed.Rick rejects the fact that he’s falling in love with the stupid little human.
Relationships: Past Diane Sanchez/Rick Sanchez, Rick Sanchez/Morty Smith
Comments: 32
Kudos: 105





	1. Lamb’s Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Spooky vibes start early. It’s Halloween all year ‘round in my world baby

“He lives in a castle in the Citadel forests, preying on those u-u-unfortunate enough to come across him!” Morty waves his arms wildly, the campfire’s light casting shadows across his face.

One of the Mortys listening to the story squeals in fear, their body trembling as they hug onto their knees. 

“O-oh jeez. I-it’s not real though, right?”

“Obviously not.” The third Morty chimes in, unamused at the cheesy tale. “V-vampires aren’t _real,_ you doofus. At least, not in this dimension.”

“Then I t-t-triple dog dare you to-to go to that old haunted castle and knock three times!” The storytelling Morty challenges, making the other boy scowl and stand up, eyes following his doppelgänger’s pointed finger, a dark castle illuminated by the full moon in the near distance. 

“Fine! I-if I don’t come back in 20 minutes, g-go ahead and leave, you big babies!” Morty yells at the boys, marching off toward the direction of the towering castle, pushing through the hanging branches of the evergreen trees with a scowl etched on his face. He doesn’t stop his fast, confidence stride until he ceases to hear the bickering between the other Mortys.

An ounce of fear settles in his chest at what he was doing, but a larger part of himself overrides the feeling, telling himself vampires weren’t real; just something out of fictional teenage novels. He would knock a couple times on the stupid, ancient castle, maybe take a picture or two to prove it, and head back. It would take 10 minutes, tops. 

With renewed confidence, Morty allows himself to be lured further into the dark forest, the shadows around him artificially dark — Immensely dark, in fact. The kind of darkness that makes you reach up and touch your eyes to make sure they’re really still open. Morty feels the trees’ bark on his right, allowing the rough feeling to guide him in a relatively straight path. He begins to worry he may have gotten lost until he finally leaves the dense trees of the forest, coming upon a temporary clearing, the castle now incredibly large, hovering over Morty’s stature as if it were glowering down at him like a scolding parent. Every window was blocked, barricaded as if a zombie apocalypse Morty wasn’t aware of had broken out.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, Morty rubs at his dry throat, wobbling legs inching toward the double doors of the menacing castle. He slowly climbed the small set of stairs, fist coming up and knocking.

One

Two

Three times.

Morty stands their dumbly, staring at the wooden doors like he expected an answer to arrive. He deadpans at the momentary stupid thought, looking down to take his phone out of his jean’s pockets and snap a picture. His body freezes when he feels a ghost of a feeling, his mind taking several seconds to catch up to the cold hand grasping his shoulder, a hiss audible behind him.

When he tries to look behind him, the lanky hand squeezes his shoulder, the promise of a bruise being left behind. Morty feels like he’s being held at gunpoint, body trembling like he had just seen a murder.

“Don’t-dont turn around,” A gruff voice tells him, sharp nails digging into his armpit now. “I’ll rip your head off from where it sits on your shoulders if you move an inch.”

“P-p-please.” Morty whispers, pleading — begging — for something. He didn’t quite know what. 

“Why are you here?” The voice asks, hand trailing up Morty’s neck, pressing against the side of his throat in a warning. The hand feels like ice, his body resisting the instinctive urge to jerk away from the uncomfortable bite. 

“A stupid — it was just for a stupid dare!” Morty yelled fearfully, eyes blown wide as he stared at the doors in front of him, heart thumping rhythmically against his ribcage. 

_“Liar_.” Morty hears the voice hiss, cold fingers gradually wrapping around his neck, swallowing up the skin like a snake wrapping around its victim.

“I’m not! I’m not lying!” Morty screams, tears flooding his eyes yet refusing to roll down his cheeks. His body collapses in on itself suddenly from the extraordinary pressure building around him, dropping onto his knees, his hands coming up to claw at his own throat. He gasps for an inhale of breath, unable to like someone was actively choking him. The breathlessness continues for another minute, mind begin to shut down and vision beginning to dot from faintness. As suddenly as it had occurred, the contactless pressure finally ceases itself, making Morty plant his hands down onto the wooden patio he kneeled on, choking and gulping for air. 

The body behind Morty finally rounds him, allowing the boy to raise his sore eyes and take in the unknown figure. It’s something resembling a Rick. But this one has ashen colored skin, as gray and pale as a dead corpse. The sclera of his eyes are tinted yellow, black pupils sharp. The sharp tooth that worries his lip catches Morty’s eyes until it disappears behind those gray lips. The odd man wears a long, black cloak that encases his body like a coffin, hiding his long limbs. 

“Y-you have a lot of nerve coming to _me_ for a something as stupid as a dare, boy,” Rick tells him, smirk crossing his face. His lips stretch until his sharp, yellow canines appear again, unibrow raising in a flash of amusement. “Very stupid.” He echoes with a long grin.

“I-I didn’t..” Morty starts, choking on his own words. He swallows, mouth dry like it were full of peanut butter. “I’m s-sorry, I didn’t know — didn’t think..” He trailed off again when he saw Rick’s face drop into an irritated scowl.

“Think vampires were _real_? Haven’t y-you seen all the bizarre, insensible things in this universe? Vampires existing should have been a very r-real thought that crossed that empty skull of yours.” Rick fills in for the sputtering boy. His eyes flashing down to look at his sharp nails, bored. 

“But your stupidity served me well,” Rick continues on his small rant, the yellows of his eyes seemingly glowing under the attention of the full moon. “When I need to feed, I’ll just use your d-dumbass. No need to go out and work for it.”

“What?!” Morty voiced aloud, cowering slightly when Rick’s eyes met his threateningly. 

“Orrrr,” Rick says, voice dipping. “I-I could eat you now — suck you dry and leave your wrinkled, _disgusting_ corpse hung on my door like a Christmas wreath to keep all the other Mortys away for good. Or, maybe we can celebrate what t-the Jews did, Passover? Paint the blood of a lamb on my doors as a sacrifice to God.”

Morty simply shakes his head, wanting to argue and tell the creature that God is not here. Certainly not in the presence of this vampire. Not trusting his trembling voice, or rather, he doesn’t know if a decipherable sound would leave his throat, he remains quietly kneeled on the wooden planks under him, too afraid to try to stand without permission.

Rick seems to appreciate the obedience, the double doors to the castle opening behind his tall figure without him even turning around to pull it open. Morty watches with growing concern, his teeth chewing at the insides of his overly bitten cheeks. Looking past Rick, Morty is unable to see anything in the castle, it’s darkened interior doused in a blanket of pure black. The open doors invite in a smell of old wood, black polish, and ancient paper to waft into Morty’s nose, his face wrinkling at the smell. 

“Come.” Rick orders, backing into the castle. The darkness swallows up his body, his bright eyes the only thing Morty can see until they close and disappear as if the vampire were completely invisible.

Morty doesn’t know why he doesn’t take the chance to run. Run and never look back. But his mind rationalizes that he might die from the stupid move. That he _will_. And maybe following this Rick might lock him into an inevitable fate of an early death. But running — running now would simply be _suicide_ rather than homicide later down the line.

So the boy enters the castle, squinting his useless human eyes in the blackness, using the moon’s light as a type of guidance. As soon as his feet move inside, the double doors close behind him, a small click locking them in place. The moon’s white light is shut out like God himself was refused an invite, Morty left standing somewhere in the blinding dark of the castle. 

In the claws of the beast he knew as Rick.


	2. Capable of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morty hurts Rick.

Morty held out his hands in front of him, searching blindly in the suffocating darkness until the tips of his fingers made contact with a solid object in front of him. He heard the snap of fingers, the sound bringing to life a set of candles that littered the interior of the castle, lighting the entrance of the castle where he currently stood. Morty came to the realization he was literally feeling up Rick, hands pressed against the vampire’s chest. He pulled his hands back quickly, a sheepish expression on his face. Rick looked back at him with a deadpan expression as he moved a step back from the boy in front of him.

“Sorry.” Morty voiced quickly, body folding in on itself, flustered, not exactly knowing why he was apologizing to his captor. 

Rick ignored him, turning around, long black cloak swinging behind him gracefully. Morty watched him ascend up the winding staircase without another word, long strides confident yet sluggish.

“A-Aren’t you going to, uh, show me around?” Morty called out to the beast, body instinctively tensing and shoulders shooting up when those sharp eyes darted to look at him.

“You have all the time in the world to do that yourself.” 

Morty frowned at the beastly Rick, his eyes following the man’s slowly moving figure until he disappeared behind a dark corner, the upstairs of the castle unlit by any lights. Morty internally thanked the vampire for at least leaving some part of the castle lit for the boy to navigate through. Deciding to indeed explore what the castle has to offer, Morty opted to stay downstairs and avoid Rick for as long as he could. Maybe if the vampire didn’t actively see him, he’d live another day. 

Timidly, Morty moved away from the spot he was glued to, ignoring the winding staircase and instead exploring the back rooms of the castle. The lit candles extended their lights into a large reading room, one filled with multiple dark oak shelves that reached up to the tall ceiling. Every shelf was filled to the brim with books, some coated in thick layers of dust, surely untouched for years. Although Morty wasn’t much of a reader outside of comic books, he knew these books would serve as the most entertainment around here. 

Morty grabbed one of the sitting candles that drooled over an opened book on the floor, wincing when the crying red wax slid over his fingers. The wax coated his fingers in its thick residue, immediately cooling against his peach-colored skin. With great surprise, the boy realized the reading room went very far back, the room much larger than he first expected. 

Traveling down the library while allowing the candle’s light to lead him through, Morty looked to his left, then to his right, every wall covered full of books. They ranged across several topics, some covering European history, others examining art history, some observing and hypothesizing over varying scientific theories. When the boy finally stopped at the end of the library, he squinted his eyes at the large framed portrait on the wall. Using the candle held in his hand, Morty held it up, its tinted yellow flames exposing the photo that shyly hid in the mask of darkness.

The portrait was one of a beautiful blonde woman, her cheeks lightly dotted like the stars with brown freckles, eyes bright from her pearly white smile. She looked..very human. And oddly out of place in Rick’s home. Morty stared at the picture for a long minute, a soft blush on his cheeks. Although nearly everything here was doused in some sheet of dust, the large framed portrait — larger than Morty’s entire body — was clean like it was constantly maintained. He was startled out of his hormonal gaze when Rick’s voice abruptly cut through the stale air of library.

“Q-quit poppin’ a boner over a picture.”

Morty yelled in surprise, tossing the candle in his hand from his shock. Rick easily caught the thrown candle midair, leaning over toward one of the nearby study tables that held books stacked messily on top of one another, placing the heated stick into one of the many vacant candleholders.

“Dust is flammable, M-morty. Are you trying to burn everything down?” Rick hissed in an accusatory tone, making the boy cower slightly. 

“N-no, I’m..ah, jeez. I’m sorry, Rick! But you..I mean, could you announce your presence next time? You move like you don’t touch the floor!” Morty argued, a stroke of bravery rising through him suddenly, arms crossed over his chest.

Rick’s eyes darted to his left, hand swinging from where it hid underneath his cloak and took the liberty to knock a random book off the table. The book clattered to the floor, specks of gray dust rising in the air. “I’m here.” The vampire said, pettily.

Morty scowled at him, Rick’s face holding a humorous, toothy grin, like he were proud of his little gag. 

“W-w-what did you want, anyway?” Morty asked, lower lip coming out in a childish pout. “I thought you said that I should acquaint myself with the place?”

“You can,” Rick answered, stepping closer, his body towering over Morty. Waves of cold rolled off the vampire’s clothed body like a window were cracked open in the winter time. “B-but it’s dinner time.”

“Dinner?” Morty echoed, confused. “I can — I’m eating dinner? I thought I’d be kept in some dungeon underground, chained to the walls until you got bored and-and ate me.”

“I’m not a _savage,_ Morty.” Rick emphasized, one of his arms coming out to catch Morty’s wrist, pulling apart the boy’s previously crossed arms. 

Morty opened his mouth to protest that _very_ inaccurate statement when his surroundings seemed to suddenly melt and mix around him, a wave of nauseous hitting him full force like he just rid a roller coaster after participating in a soup-drinking contest. When Rick’s grip released him, he dropped onto his knees, dazed and confused as to how he was now on the floor of a dining room. A long wooden table sat in the middle of the large room, seven chairs gathered around the table. Only one of them was clear of any signs of dust. On the table sat a lamp stand, already lit up with six candles. The small flames danced mockingly. 

“Sorry, Morty,” Rick said ingenuously, obviously not sorry at all. He grabbed the boy by the collar of his yellow t-shirt, using one hand to toss him into the closest chair. Morty groaned, shaking his head and wiping the drool that oozed on his chin from his momentary feeling of sickness. “H-humans are just — they move way too slow. I saved us seven minutes.”

Morty glared at the vampire before glancing down at the plate set in front of him. He didn’t mean to grimace in disgust, but his face contorted that way anyhow. Rick sat in the chair furthest from Morty, staring ahead at the boy with a filled wine glass cradled between his long fingers.

“You don’t like it?” 

“What is _it_?” Morty answered with a question, brows shooting up when he used a fork to poke at the cooked mystery meat in front of him. 

“It’s deer liver. I thought humans liked liver.”

“Bleh.” Morty pushed the untouched plate of meat away from him with an ounce of disgust, setting the dirtied fork down. “U-um..I think I’ll pass. I’m not really a fan of liver.” He declined politely.

“Then-then what are you a fan of?” Rick asked, eyes quickly looking away when Morty lifted his head to look at him. 

“Um..” Morty began, fingers wrinkling themselves sheepishly around the white table napkin on the table. “Maybe..ah, jeez, I don’t know, grilled cheese sandwiches? Or, pizza?”

Rick only hummed in response, tipping the glass in his hand to drink the wine quickly. He finished the blood red liquid in seconds, throat bobbing as he swallowed it down, already reaching over to pour more into the cup from a nearby wine bottle. Morty watched him quietly from where he sat, feeling slightly safe from the distance between them. 

“So,” Morty said, boldly, trying to fill in the awkward silence. “Who is that w-woman? In the library? The blonde one?”

Rick paused, wine bottle shattering from his pressuring grip. The red liquid dripped down his ashen-colored fingers, a large, dark pink puddle forming itself on the table. Morty let out a fearful yell at the sound of glass breaking, eyes wide in confusion. Had he asked something too personal? 

The vampire gazed ahead at the boy, remaining frozen in time for a moment longer until he broke from his self-induced trance, expression dropping into a flat, unreadable one. 

“She was my wife.”

“O-oh..”

“She died.” Rick continued, eyes cast down to drag his sharp pointer finger absentmindedly through the puddle of wine. “Because she didn’t want — wouldn’t let me turn her. I outlived her. Because she was human.”

Morty swallowed dryly, a pang of sympathy driving through his chest like a wooden stake. But he refused the feeling, willing it down as his fists clenched. He didn’t owe Rick anything. In fact, he owed him _nothing._ Morty was the victim in this story. He wouldn’t fall for the beast’s pathetic attempt at pity. Despite his small pep talk, Morty stared down at his lap when he spoke.

“You’re not capable of love.” Morty whispered, voice successfully carrying regardless of his volume in the empty dining room.

“A-are you saying I didn’t love my _wife_?” Rick stood, hands slamming down on the table, the inhuman force shaking it like an earthquake. The lit candles tumbled from their stand, some of their flames dissipating upon impact with the table. The increased darkness made Rick’s features seem more menacing, darkened shadows coloring his face like makeup. When Morty didn’t answer, Rick’s anger only increased.

_“How dare you.”_ He hissed venomously in a sharp whisper, body visibly shaking. Morty fearfully lifted his eyes from his lap to look at the vampire, a large part of him sensing Rick was truly hurt by his wife’s death. His mind yelled at him, trying to rationalize the predetermined fact that vampires were insensible, unfeeling creatures. Nothing more, nothing less. But the way Rick was reacting was refuting this previously concrete belief. 

“An hour ago, you didn’t believe vampires existed,” Rick started, his grip tight around the sides of the table, knuckles white from his relentless hold. His once slicked-back pale blue hair was pointed upwards, flaring up in a more classic Rick hairstyle. “And now..now you _dare_ judge me? Dare lecture me of my o-own ability to love? How-how fucking _dare_ you!” The vampire’s voice rose in its volume until he yelled. 

Morty shook in his seat, the familiar atmospheric, burning pressure lying atop his body nearly knocking him onto his knees again. The boy nearly began hyperventilating at the suffocating, angry feeling crescendoing into existence from Rick, the power no doubt supernatural in nature. Without another jumbled thought crossing his mind, Morty shoved himself out of his chair, the legs of the seat scraping against the flooring. The boy bolted in a random direction, exiting the dining room with a series of whimpers leaving his lips.

Rounding the turn at the long, dark hallway, Morty threw a glance over his shoulder, eyes blown wide in an attempt to both see how close Rick was gaining on him and to more quickly adjust his eyes to the strong darkness that plagued the castle like a virus. Much to his disappointment, he collided into a solid figure in front of him when his head was cast behind him, causing him to tumble to the ground with a surprised grunt. In front of him Rick stood there, unfazed when Morty impacted into his body. 

With no candles lit here, the yellows of Rick’s eyes glowed behind his black pupils, eyes wide and filled with anger. With _hurt._

Morty hastily crawled backwards, head cast upwards to stare into Rick’s mesmerizing, glowing eyes. Rick followed him slowly on foot, pausing when the boy backed into a small bedroom. Morty’s body jolted violently when the door slammed shut, locking him inside the dusty, unlit cage. The last thing he caught sight of was Rick’s cold stare, eyes lidded.

“Rick?” Morty said, standing up quickly and pulling at the doorknob that resisted him with an invisible force. He twisted at the knob, pulling with every amount of strength in his body to no avail. “Rick!” Morty called out again, the silence deafening, teasing him.

Morty gave up his efforts, turning to examine the bedroom behind him. In the middle of it sat a queen sized bed, a dark purple satin sheet draped over it neatly. As the boy’s eyes began adjusting to the darkness, he took note of the wooden night stand beside the bed, the object looking nearly antique with its bronze embroideries. Other than the two pieces of furniture, nothing else was worth noting. The only window in the room was barricaded with wooden boards, making him yearn to see the moon one more time and appreciate its light.

He sighed, deflating as he shuffled toward the bed and sat atop it. Although it smelled old, it was very comfortable, the soft sheets caressing his naked ankles where his jeans failed to cover skin. Slowly, like he was under a spell, Morty sank down onto the bed, blinking up at the dark ceiling above him blearily. The need to sleep was purring in his ear like a sin, his eyes fluttering closedand bending to the primal urge. 

Morty could swear he could feel a set of piercing eyes watch him lay there, but he ignored the feeling, scared if he opened his eyes, he’d see something he wasn’t suppose to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter coming soon beeeetches. Let me know what you think so far!


	3. So, You’re Like Snow White?

Morty woke with a start, heart thumping in his ears as he sat up, disoriented and confused. Last night’s events caught up to him quickly, forcing his mind to skim through pages of recently conjured memories to ultimately make sense of his strange surroundings. The room was nearly as dark as it was last night, only a slither of light peeking through one of the broken cracks in the wood that barricaded the window, indicating it was some time in the morning.

Sliding off the large bed and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Morty tried the door to his room, surprised when it creaked open under only a slight twist of the knob. Morty peeked through the small crack of the door carefully, seeing the dim hallways lit up with newly placed candles that weren’t there the night before. When he didn’t see Rick anywhere, he pushed the door open further, wincing when it groaned loudly. Like a careful house robber, Morty froze again, standing there for a little over a minute. When he didn’t see Rick, he released a breath that caught in his lungs, finally brave enough to exit the dusty room. He traveled down the long hallway which seemed to hold a supernatural darkness to it that even the lit candles couldn’t mend. 

At the end of the hallway, Rick was found sitting at the dining table from last night, his back turned to Morty with a book splayed out in his hand. On the table sat a wooden music box that sang in soft jingles. The inside of it had a small, cartoonish bunny who wore a top hat, twirling like a ballerina as the musical box played only one song. When it was over, Rick would set the book down and crank it to revival again.

“Hello Morty.” 

Morty nearly jumped out of his shoes when the vampire spoke out to him. Rick swiped his tongue across one of his fingers, turning a page in his book without once ever turning to look back at the boy. Morty supposed he shouldn’t act so surprised at Rick’s ability to sense his presence. With a nervous swallow, Morty retreated from behind the wall he previously hid behind, walking up to Rick and taking a seat on the nearby chairs beside him.

A silence hung between them, the music box the only sound in the stale air. Rick’s eyes never rose from the book he held, dark eyes lazily trailing across lines of black text, refusing to completely acknowledge Morty. Morty worried his teeth along the insides of his cheek, biting the skin there. He took note of the newly formed dark circles around the vampire’s eyes. Morty had some inkling he may have been the cause of that. He felt guilty, even though he sound have relished in the fact that he had some effect on Rick — not standing down to the creature like some submissive dog. 

“U-um..” Morty started, voice still heavy with sleep. “What are you-you reading there, Rick?”

Rick turned another page silently, eyes looking through the words. Morty thought the vampire was going to ignore him until he answered curtly after a minute had passed. 

“Contemporary linguistics.” 

“O-oh.” Morty replied, lamely, having a hard time keeping a conversation going between them. He dipped his head down slightly to catch sight of the cover, realizing the book was more specifically a textbook. 

“I’ve r-read that before!” Morty announced, sitting upright. “At..at Morty school, we have that exact textbook, actually.”

When Rick finally lifted his eyes to look at the boy, his eyes were squinted from his small, knowing smirk.

Morty’s blood ran cold at the trickling realization. 

He stood from his seat hastily, chair pushed back and its legs scratching offensively against the dark wooden planks. His hands planted themselves firmly against the long, squared wooden table. 

“Th-they came? Here?!” Morty interrogated, desperation full in his wide eyes. “You-you — you know, you’re a real _monster_ , Rick! P-p-preying after some innocent Mortys! I’m the one who came here. Me!” 

Rick rolled his eyes, bookmarking his spot in the textbook by folding a corner of the page. “Did I say I did anything to them?” 

Morty deflated at the statement, anger leaving him immediately, quickly replaced with sheepishness. “I-I-I..um..I just thought that you—“

“Yeah well, don’t think, Morty. It’s not your strongest suit,” Rick interrupted, exasperation on his face. “T-the little assholes did come. Last night. I sent them on their merry way after taking some of their things — for safe keeping.” He added dryly, stature towering Morty’s when he stood.

Morty frowned at the increased coldness in Rick’s behavior. Rick was in the motion of leaving until Morty’s hand flew up on its own accord and gripped onto that long, black cloak of his. The vampire froze, a surprised expression flashing across his face as he glanced back at Morty.

“Look I’m..I’m really sorry, okay? I’m horrible for..for assuming you’re some animal with an insatiable desire for blood.” Morty apologized quickly, hiding his face with a turn.

The gentle hand on his cheek made Morty crane his neck to look up at Rick.

“I only ever take what I _need_ , Morty.” Rick said carefully, the statement seeming to serve as a double entendre. His other hand came up to wrap around Morty’s wrist where it held onto his cloak. Rick bent down to better reach Morty, cold lips pausing right before they made contact with the boy’s cheek.

Morty let out a small yelp when the hand on his cheek moved up quickly, fingers interlocking between those brown strands to wrench his head backwards. Morty shook slightly where he stood, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. Rick had him dipped backwards like a bow, back straining in the unnatural position.

_This was it._

Morty thought for sure Rick would keep him around for at least three days before finally caving in and feeding on him. He could already imagine his dried up corpse being the only thing left once the deed was done. 

He could feel the way Rick’s lips brushed across Morty’s exposed throat, a surprisingly hot, slimy tongue coming out to flick across his bobbing Adam’s apple and feel the boy’s hammering heart beat. Those sharp, _sharp_ teeth unrolled from where they hid under Rick’s upper lip, the tips of them seemingly growing in size to graze Morty’s sweating skin like a dagger. 

A small whimper escaped Morty, the sound rousing Rick from his daze. The vampire hastily pulled away, his pupils constricted to mere black slits like a cat. The sight scared Morty, his body jerking further away from Rick like he had been punched. They stood frozen, staring at each other until Rick cleared his throat into his hand, eyes cast away and his unibrow dropping down in a furrow. 

“Y-you-you reek, Mortyyy” Rick said in a slurred manner, words melting together like he were drunk.

Morty blinked a couple times, surprised at the random insult hurled his way. “W-w-well I..I would’ve taken a shower but..but you don’t have running water!” He defended, arms crossing to better hide his shaking.

“Because I don’t sweat l-l-like you. And I sure as hell don’t need to drink water,” Rick combatted in return, his gaze turned to Morty now, pupils long returned to their normal size. “Tonight, I’ll take you somewhere to bathe.” The vampire promised.

“Where?” 

—

Morty trailed behind Rick, his fingers bunched around some of his dark cloak to keep from tripping over some unseen tree root or jutting rock. Rick navigated through the Citadel’s dense forests expertly as if he carried an internal compass. The soft, cool nighttime breeze tickled Morty’s cheeks, making him smile. He missed being outside. Missed his shitty life, going to school with his friends and learning how to be the best Morty he could be for his future Rick. His life might’ve not been perfect or ideal, but it was _his_ life.

The sound of crickets followed the pair no matter how deeply they traveled through the evergreen trees. The croaking of toads also rang through the dense area, making Morty want to stop and search for them. The crack of a twig behind them made Morty jolt, his pleasant flow of thoughts interrupted. His grip on Rick’s cloak tightened considerably, clammy palms dampening the cloth. 

“R-Rick?” 

“Just ignore it Morty.” 

Morty kept glancing behind him at the sounds that kept getting closer and closer, expecting to see some demonic spirit or monster. Then again, when he thought about it, he supposed Rick was kind of the demonic entity around here. The fact made him want to pull away from Rick yet also stick closer to him, knowing he would never be in harms way in the vampire’s presence unless the harm came directly from Rick himself.

A nearby bush rustled to life behind them, making Morty speed up his walking, his feet hitting the back of Rick’s shoes, nearly pulling them off in the process. Rick paused his long strides to yell at him, ceasing his ranting when Morty collided into his chest, desperately using both his hands to grab the vampire’s clothing and try to open the cloak up like a set of curtains to hide behind. 

Rick gave a huff of irritation despite his arm draping around the boy, wrapping around Morty’s shoulders protectively.

“Morty, open your eyes, y-you-you scared little shit.”

Morty cracked open one of his eyes, slowly moving himself away from the vampire’s safe embrace to examine what had happened. The boy was in awe when his nose bumped against that of a deer’s snout. He yelped in surprise, feet stumbling back into Rick until the vampire pushed him forward encouragingly with a hand on his lower back.

“Oh-oh my god, Rick!” Morty hissed in an excited whisper, eyes filled with amazement and childish wonder. “It’s a deer!”

“Get used to these assholes. Them and their friends never leave me alone.” Rick responded annoyed, taking one of Morty’s hands and gingerly guiding it toward the waiting deer. The boy’s timid fingertips flinched at the feeling of deer’s coat, slowly easing into the touch when the deer dipped her head closer, allowing Morty to caress the spot right between her doe eyes. Morty’s cheeks flushed from the way Rick’s hand cradled his smaller hand, oddly focused more on the vampire’s hand and the way it made his skin tingle rather than the animal before him.

“T-they..” Morty began in a high-pitched tone, clearing his throat to distract himself from the warm feeling pooling in his stomach. “Do they always follow you around?”

“Whenever I’m out,” Rick claimed, long fingers slipping between Morty’s own for a brief moment before he retracted his hand to allow Morty to touch the deer on his own. “Animals are — they’re always trailing closely behind me. Probably has something to do with my presence or some shit.”

Morty finally removed his hand from the deer, turning to look at Rick in amazement. “So you’re like — kinda like Snow White!” He mused excitedly. 

No, _Morty._ I’m not like Snow Wh—“ Rick grunted in the middle of his sentence when a squirrel suddenly lunged itself from one of the hanging tree branches, latching itself directly on the vampire’s face. One of Rick’s clawed hands came out to grab onto the small creature with impressive speed, arm reeling back and heaving the animal through the air in a random direction.

Morty gasped, hands coming to cover his gaping mouth in surprise — and to hide the inappropriate laugh begging to come out. “Rick! Don’t just” — he laughed in the middle of his nagging — “don’t just _throw_ squirrels!”

Rick scowled, a hint of embarrassment on his face as he abandoned the scene. “I just got a mouthful of squirrel _balls_ , Morty.” The seriousness of his statement was lost when a raven swooped down from the sky and smacked into the back of the Rick’s head. Morty burst out laughing again, tears hanging from the corners of his eyes. He used a finger to quickly swipe them away when Rick’s nostrils flared, glowing eyes glaring back at the boy behind him. 

Pushing past one last drooping tree branch, They paused at a new clearing, a good-sized pond in the middle of it, surrounded by green grass and different colored flowers dancing every so often in the spurts of soft breeze. On the furthest side of the pond, three new deer faces drank from the pond, one of them a young fawn. Their heads tilted back and bobbed to swallow the clear liquid, not particularly minding Rick and Morty’s presence.

With a soft breath of air leaving his lungs, Morty crouched down, his hand coming out slowly to touch the cold water. He could see all the way down to the pond’s floor, the deep, crystal-clear waters sparkling like a painting thanks to the natural light casted by the moon above them.

“Do you like it?” Rick asked softly from where he stood behind Morty. 

Morty only nodded silently in answer, mesmerized by the unmoving waters swallowing his hand. He blinked at the feeling of Rick’s hands coming around him, looping around his armpits to pull the boy back onto his feet. Morty was whirled around to face Rick, embarrassment flooding him when the vampire began undressing him like it was the most normal thing to do.

“Rick?!” Morty yelled with a bright blush, pushing the vampire’s hands away. “Wh-what’re you doing?”

“Undressing you, o-obviously, Morty.” Rick ignored the boy’s protests, fingers stroking up Morty’s naked stomach slowly, helping him tug off his yellow shirt. Morty shivered from the abnormally cold skin against his warm stomach, his blunt teeth coming out to nibble nervously at his lip. 

“Yeah well — I can undress _myself_ , Rick!” Morty complained, cheeks ablaze when he was turned away and his back pressed against Rick’s chest. 

“Are you embarrassed, Morty?” Rick whispered in a hushed tone against the back of Morty’s ear, hands gripping onto the boy’s hips. His gravelly voice made Morty want to collapse on himself. “If you are, well..just stay turned away from-from me. Like this.”

“I’m..I’m..”Morty began, heart thumping against his ribcage and distracting him from continuing with any further thoughts. 

Rick’s hands crawled their way toward the zipper of Morty’s jeans, unbuttoning his pants to slide them off along with his boxers in one quick swoop. Morty felt like he was basking under the sun, body flushing red across his blotchy colored chest and his now red ears. But the vampire didn’t do anything else suggestive; just held Morty up by his armpits like he weighed nothing and lowered him into the cold water until he sat atop a submerged boulder.

Morty retracted his earlier praise, now cursing at how clear the water was, unable to hide his naked body from the vampire’s sharp gaze. The nearly freezing temperature of the water bit at his skin, making him tremble until Rick kneeled down on the grass beside the waters and pushed up his sleeve, hand touching the surface of the water. Immediately, the water began to bubble and steam until it was as hot as a hot spring. 

The pleased groan that left Morty’s lips served as a thank you to the vampire, the boy’s eyes slipping shut with a pleased hum. The hot water massaged at his aching muscles and made him forget every negative thought that raced across his mind. Morty splayed his arms behind him as he sank further down against the rocks, head tipping back into Rick’s soft lap, his brown hair played with until he nearly fell asleep.

“Rick?” Morty voiced, his name drawn out and lazy from his pleasure. “Even though you’re..you’re a vampire and stuff, I don’t think you’re all that s-scary. I mean..” Morty opened his eyes, gazing at the upside image of Rick staring back down at him. “I-I-I..you don’t _look_ scary, ya’know?”

Rick laughed, thumb tracing Morty’s hairline. “Thanks, Morty. But this isn’t what I really look like.”

“H-huh?”

“T-This is as human as I can look with my ability,” Rick explained to him, hand moving away from the boy’s hair to touch his cheek with a thumb. “If you saw what I _really_ looked like, you’d piss your pants.”

Morty shivered at the description, a frown on his face.

“Well I..I’ll accept you any way you are, Rick.” Morty replied, his own answer surprising him. 

Rick’s eyes rolled as he stood, pulling Morty out of the water like a rag doll. “Mhm. And I’m the fucking Pope, Morty.”

“I’m serious!” Morty huffed, confusion on his face when Rick shifted the boy into his arms, Morty’s head against his covered chest, the backs of his naked, wet knees thrown over the vampire’s other arm.

“Uh..Rick? My clothes are—“

“I’ll give you new ones,” Rick cut the boy off, glancing down at him. His eyes seemed to glow less than they did last night, dimmer than the moon’s light now. “Let’s go home.”

“Home.” Morty echoed with a quiet whisper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though Rick is like a literal demon-vampire spawn, he gives me enchanting, ethereal vibes. He’s a sensitive guy. This is the kind of fairytale-y song that suits him: [Once Upon A Time](https://youtu.be/NAfWGCF-exE)


	4. Till Death Do Us Apart

Morty dreamt of a cold blizzard.

Dreamt of lying in an empty field, body submerged in the snow as he stared up at the dull, grey skies with lidded eyes. The raging flakes of snow fell over him, burying Morty under that cold white blanket until he nearly disappeared underneath it. 

Morty stirred from his abstract dream, fluttering his eyes open to stare into the darkness of the room he had fallen asleep in. The comfortable black silk pajamas he had been given by Rick brushed across his skin like a caress as he sat up. Even in the dark, Morty realized how he could see the visibility in his breath every time he exhaled with a huff, the abnormally freezing room making him tremble and rub his arms with his hands to bring warmth back into the contracting muscles.

After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Morty stood up off the bed and stumbled through the hallway, grabbing one of the lit candles along the way. The wooden floorboards creaked under his weight, his bare feet making contact with the cold ground each time he treaded forward.

“Rick?” He voiced aloud, seeking out the vampire who was nowhere to be found. Morty searched the empty dining room before trying the other doors in castle; most of them locked beside the bathrooms. After finally making his way to the library, Morty immediately took notice of the suffocating dark, blistering cold that radiated from the area like cold wave. The small light from the candle he held highlighted the faint puffs of cold condensation rolling out from the pitch black library like fog.

“R-Rick?” Morty tried again, voice losing its confidence as he stepped into the library and entered further inside it. He held up the candle in his hand to increase the range of light, surprised to see recently formed icicles hanging from some of the tables and books. The sight of Rick’s distant silhouette was the last thing Morty noticed before the candle in his hand blew out from an unnatural gust of wind, the warm, yellow light disappearing and leaving Morty standing there in the blinding dark.

“Rick!” Morty said again, this time with slight irritation and fear to his voice, panic creeped up through his veins like black widows. He cowered backwards until his back pressed against one of the iced bookshelves. The feeling granted him some sense of false security.

Morty could only see Rick’s pupils now. Normally black like Morty’s; Rick’s were crimson in color like a bad camera flash had gone off.

“No lights.” Rick answered simply. His familiar, gruff voice serving to comfort Morty.

Morty swallowed and nodded obediently, knowing Rick would be able to see the wordless agreement. The boy’s hand was still tightly wrapped around the useless candle like he was prepared to use it as a weapon. 

Those red dots got closer. Close enough that if Morty reached out his hand, he was sure he’d be able to feel Rick.

But Morty didn’t reach out. A feeling of pure fear and dread was alive in his stomach, his fight or flight instincts fully activated and trying to kick into action.

Rick was dark. So dark he became darkness itself. No longer some dark silhouette basking in the darkness, no. The vampire and the darkness became a single entity now. They stood in silence, Morty watching those red orbs disappear and come back between blinks.

“W-what do you — you want?” Rick said after a few seconds, the uninviting question sounding accusatory. Morty felt more unwelcome than he ever had before.

“I-I-it’s just..it’s really cold, Rick.” Morty answered, unable to help the slight whine to his voice. A nervous smile crossed his face despite his obvious discomfort, his voice a pathetic squeak like he was trying to keep from angering a wild animal.

Morty felt a cold gust radiate off Rick’s practically invisible body, the feeing pinning itself above the boy. Morty assumed Rick had his forearm planted against the bookshelf above him, trapping Morty. When Rick’s other hand came out to touch the boy’s wrist, Morty yelped in a mixture of pain and surprise, the vampire’s incredibly freezing touch burning him like dry ice and making him drop the candle he held. A hot feeling rolled down across Morty’s lips, the feeling strange and foreign until Morty realized his nose was bleeding, the taste of his own hot blood drizzling into his parted lips and coating his teeth like frosting. 

Morty’s other senses seemed delayed too, picking up on the loud, nearly hyperventilating pants in the air and coming to determine they were from Morty himself. The sound was deafening in the otherwise silent library. He heard Rick’s own breath hitch into sudden existence, Morty’s human ears now hyper aware of the noises exiting the vampire. The sounds were careful, calculated. Planned.

They sounded too human. Too precise and perfect. Like someone mocking the sound of breathing. The minute observation unnerved Morty, making him quiver and consequently rattle the unstable bookshelf behind him. Whether it was from the blistering cold or from his climbing fear, he didn’t know. 

His pulsing ears began to slowly tune out Rick’s breathing, instead picking up on overlapping whispers littered around the library, hidden by the absence of light. Some hissed nonsense next to his ears, others sounded far away and indecipherable other than the occasional speaking of his name. 

Morty thought he was going insane. 

With his sense completely overblown, the added feeling of Rick’s tongue dragging up across Morty’s face made him yelp pathetically, eyes squeezing themselves shut to try to escape the horrifying feeling. The tension in the air felt like a raging kettle, Rick’s close presence adding to the uncomfortable feeling by making Morty’s head feel stuffy like he were hiking a tall mountain, ears ringing from the pressure.

The hot muscle felt vastly different from the last time Rick licked the boy’s neck. This time, it felt long. Abnormally long. The tip of the vampire’s tongue was forked like a serpent. The tips tickled Morty’s cheek momentarily before it dipped down to lap up the continuously streaming red liquid oozing out of both of Morty’s nostrils. Morty uncomfortably craned his neck upwards as the strong, wet muscle guided the boy in that direction, the vampire’s tongue dipping between those trembling lips and sliding down his throat.

Morty gagged around the snake-like tongue, eyes opened widely to make contact with those bright red ones that refused to blink. Tears blurred the image in front of him as Rick continued to probe and explore Morty’s wet mouth, the tongue crawling down his throat and jabbing against his gag reflex, leaving Morty unable to gag, the reflex long overstimulated. 

Finally, the vampire’s tongue exited Morty’s drooling mouth, licking across the boy’s drool-soaked chin for good measure and slipping back into Rick’s mouth to disappear back between the pale lips Morty had burned into his memory. The boy was unable to help the violent shudder that ran through him when Rick’s voice brushed his ear — the vampire remaining closer than Morty thought. 

“Go to bed.” Rick hissed quietly, the raw freezing temperature linked with the vampire slowly leaving from where it trapped Morty. Those glowing red eyes distanced themselves from the boy until he could no longer see them at all, now unfeeling of the piercing cold that adorned Rick.

The candle on the floor sparked to life as soon as Rick drown in the darkness, making Morty dart his eyes to the wax stick and hastily bend down to pick it up. Giving the empty library one last quick once over, Morty took the candle and darted out, running through the halls to seek refuge in his room. He swore he heard those supernatural, haunting whispers pick up again and chant his name, the voices following him until he slammed shut the door. He leaned his back against the barrier with a panicked frenzy, his heart hammering painfully against his rib cage.

_ What the hell just happened? _

With shaking legs, Morty trailed toward the bed, sliding the lit candle into the empty candle holder atop the nightstand. He didn’t think he’d be able to go back to sleep.

And he didn’t. 

Replaying the event at the library over and over occupied the boy‘s mind until he began noticing the signs of the Citadel’s artificial daylight peek through some of the cracks in the wooden planks nailed over the window. Morty tried to convince himself that whatever happened wasn’t real. He barely recognized Rick, after all. But when he slid the sleeve of his pajamas upwards, the bright red burn around his wrist in the shape of fingers reminded Morty that it was real. That whatever that unseeing force was last night _was_ Rick.

Morty refused to leave his room until his stomach whined in protest, hungry for any scrap of food. He crossed his fingers and hoped Rick wasn’t in the dining room like he usually was. His prayer was in vain, however, as he came across the vampire sitting in his usual chair around the long squared table, long, clawed fingers enveloping a filled wine glass and the other flipping through a new book Morty hadn’t yet seen the other read before. Rick seemed back to his usual physical self.

Morty awkwardly inched into the dining room, his sheepishness dissapting at the sight of a plate of warm grilled cheese sandwiches. Rick seemed to notice the boy’s drooling gape because he tipped his head toward the plate invitingly. Morty didn’t need anymore initiative to slide into one of the chairs and dive into the food. A contrasting improvement to the liver he had been offered days before, Morty eagerly chowed down on his favorite dinner, holding a sandwich in each hand and taking a bite out of each of them interchangeably. Some part in the back of Morty’s mind was touched at how the vampire remembered the boy’s food preferences. He shoved that feeling of affection back into the depths of his mind.

When Morty was done, he slumped into his chair and rubbed his stomach, completely content now and in much higher spirits. He lifted his eyes to peek at Rick, startled when he saw the vampire already observing him. Morty’s cheeks flushed faintly, suddenly embarrassed at how barbaric he feasted on the food, forgetting completely of Rick’s quiet presence.

“C-come here, Morty,” Rick said, downing the rest of the wine in his glass and setting it down across from him. Morty reluctantly pushed back his chair and stalked toward Rick, the vampire’s hand coming out to pull the boy closer into him once he was in arm’s reach. “Sit on my lap.”

“Wh-what?!” Morty asked with a reddened face, standing stiffly beside Rick. 

Rick rolled his eyes, a tight hand gripped around Morty’s forearm to yank him into his lap. The vampire balanced him on one knee, arm snaking itself around Morty’s waist to encourage him to lean back against his cold chest. Morty sat there tensely, shoulders raised up until Rick used a ginger touch to caress his stomach with a thumb, the finger dipping slightly under Morty’s pajamas to feel at his soft stomach and dip along his bellybutton.

The cool touch was much less painful in temperature than yesterday night. And it didn’t burn him. Morty wanted to address last night events, but Rick didn’t bring it up. So neither did he.

Surprisingly, the vampire was able to coax Morty into a gradually relaxed state, his body slumping into Rick’s body with his eyes lidded as he lazily watched Rick set the book on his other knee, using the appendage as a makeshift table. Rick’s long pointer finger would graze along the black text on the page, following along the words to aid in the flow of information. Eventually, he would flip the page and restart the cycle.

This went on for twenty minutes, Morty’s eyes struggling and failing to stay open, on the verge of napping. In this quiet stillness he could hear the faint sound of birds chirping outside and the beginnings of the soft pitter-patter of rain hitting the high roof of the castle. 

Rick’s arm had long abandoned its caresses along Morty’s stomach, sneaky fingers now hiked up his pajama shirt and tracing his jutting collarbones. 

“Hey, Rick?” Morty asked, body lax and limp in the vampire’s hold.

Rick hummed in response, his eyes never leaving the book on his lap. He flipped a page.

“What’s the difference between you feeding and you turning someone into..into a vampire?” He asked curiously.

Rick didn’t seem bothered or annoyed by the boy’s question, his hand keeping up its gentle combing across Morty’s curly brown hair after slipping out of his shirt. 

“Feeding means death. Turning means a long life.”

Morty huffed at the less-than-descriptive answer, head tilting further into that stroking hand that buried itself deeper into his hair.

“Y-you mean you don’t live forever, Rick?” Morty shifted where he sat to glance up at Rick, unable to help the way his eyes followed the curve of Rick’s fangs when the man spoke.

“No, Morty,” Rick said like it were obvious, shutting the book to turn his attention to the boy. “Just a miserable, lonely ass time.”

“Oh..” Morty mumbled, rubbing his arm sheepishly and looking away from Rick’s gaze. “That sounds like it sucks.”

Rick’s hand moved down to cup Morty’s cheek, turning the human’s head back to relight the gaze. “N-Not if you have someone to spend it with.”

The way Rick said it while looking at Morty made his cheeks burn, the statement suggestive. His bashfulness was short lived when Rick stood and lifted Morty off his lap, setting him aside on his bare feet. Rick coiled in on himself slightly to try to seem less imposing when he towered over the human.

“Will you?” Rick said, softly.

Morty blinked in confusion, eyes up at Rick.

“Will I what?”

“Spend it..with me?” He bit out, unibrow wrinkled in its own bashfulness, eyes searching anywhere by Morty. The sentence was tense and difficult for Rick to ask, evident by the way he quickly retracted it.

“Never mind.”

“W-w-wait, Rick!” Morty called out when Rick hastily retreated away with a stomp, fangs bared in embarrassment. Morty latched onto his cloak, the grip doing nothing but allowing the vampire to drag the boy behind him rather than cease his long strides. When a quiet laugh left Morty at Rick’s outrageous display of childish embarrassment, the man glared daggers back at him. 

“I didn’t..didn’t mean it like _that!”_ Rick hissed passionately, making Morty snort in disbelief. “I-I-I’d turn you so that you’d be my cleaner — my maid for a hundred years, Morty! Rick and Morty for a hundred years!”

“Even a-a-a hundred years wouldn’t be enough time to clean this dusty place. I’ll develop asthma before that happens.” Morty retorted, the grin on his face growing when Rick offensively yanked his black cloak from the boy’s grip.

“Then why don’t you go start _now_.” Rick replied impatiently, leaving soon after in a tantrum.

Morty was left standing alone in the hallway beside the dining room, trying to will down the smile that rose over his face. The more he got to know Rick, the more..Rick-ish he seemed. He was Rick first, then a vampire. The thought sparked awe in Morty.

With nothing more to do, he picked up a broom that was abandoned against one of the dining room corners — covered in layers of cobwebs and dust — and began cleaning, beginning at the end of the hallway. The time passed quickly that way.

—

By the time Morty had completed his sweeping task, his feet ached painfully, pulsing sorely from standing around all day. He swiped the sheen of sweat on his forehead with the sleeve to his pajamas, ready to retire for the night. 

The echoing sound of the opening castle doors made Morty perk up and peek his head downstairs, earlier exhaustion forgotten when he caught sight of Rick standing there, the full moon in the dark sky casting an ethereal light over the man. 

Rick seemed to feel Morty’s gaze because he paused to glance at the boy who remained at the top of the stairs. Morty was surprised at the sullen expression on the other’s face.

“Rick?” 

“I’ll be back in an hour, Morty.”

“C-Can I come?” Morty blurted out before he could stop himself, running down the stairs and stopping abruptly beside Rick. His eyes were wide at the cruel beckoning of freedom outside the open doors of the castle. The slim chance of freedom made Morty want to at least _try_ to better his chances of escaping.

Rick hesitated in his answer, his head twitching into a stiff nod. “But stay out of my way.”

Morty swallowed to moisten his dry throat, surprised when the vampire crouched down and tossed the boy over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

“H-hey! Rick, I can—“ 

“You’re going to prick your foot on something with your bare feet and bitch to me about it. Sh-shut up and let’s go.”

Quickly pursing his lips shut, Morty shifted his body into a slightly more comfortable position when Rick’s shoulder dug into his soft abdomen. 

“Close your eyes, Morty.” Was the only warning the boy received before the sight of the castle’s doors melted and blurred into indistinguishable shapes like last time, the sharpness of his surroundings coming back slowly until he realized they were somewhere in the middle of the forest. Morty moaned sickly, eyes squeezed shut too late when he felt sick to his stomach.

“I-I..I hate when you do that.” Morty groaned, glad when Rick seated his limp body down on a nearby rock. 

Rick ignored the boy’s complaints, unearthing a book from somewhere inside his cloak. He took the time to flip to a specific page, leaving the book open and setting it down on the soil that remained moist from the earlier rainfall. Using a twig, Rick traced a circle around the text, keeping it in his hand even once the intricate symbol was drawn around the opened book.

For the first time ever, Morty saw Rick take off his cloak, letting the dark cloth drop onto the soil. Underneath the cloak, the vampire wore simple slacks that nearly matched that of a typical Rick except for their black color. On top, he wore a black aristocrat vest over a white, long sleeved dress shirt. 

Morty tried not to stare too long at how the clothing hugged Rick’s body in just the right places, preoccupying himself instead with Rick’s ritual. 

Rick clasped his ashen-colored hands together, the twig between them. A string of strange words left his lips, as if he were speaking in tongue. As the chanting continued, the vampire’s eyes rolled back until only the yellows of his eyes could be seen. Rick then snapped the twig in half, the end of the stick now sharp. He drove the sharpened object into his open palm, pitch black blood dripping onto the open book’s pages. Morty held back his horrified gasp, hands coming up to keep his own mouth covered.

The chant lasted only a minute longer, Rick’s eyes rolling back into their normal position from their temporary place in his skull. The vampire took a couple shaky steps back, ripping the twig from where it was buried in his flesh and discarding it carelessly. 

Like magic, the circle burst with a flash of white light, the spark vanishing as quickly as it came to leave a figure standing in its wake.

“Who’s that?” Morty whispered in the cool night air, eyes squinted to try to see past the evaporating light.

Rick let out a dreamy sigh, shoulders sagging like a high school boy in love.

“Diane.”


	5. The ‘Turning’ Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this series. It was fun to write and I can’t wait to get started on another spooky, Halloween-inspired series!

“Diane?” Morty repeated, flabbergasted. “As in, your dead wife Diane?” 

Rick rolled his eyes, sitting on the damp blades grass illuminated by the moonlight. 

“Yeah, but it’s not really her. I can’t cure death,” Rick replied, glowing eyes never leaving the dancing apparition of Diane. The staticky edges around her body were the only indication that she wasn’t really here. “Every year on our anniversary I use her grave to see her again. Memories of her, at least.”

Morty frowned and glanced at the vampire, who had his lanky arms around his bent legs, pressing them to his chest. Like this, Rick seemed small. Smaller than he had ever seen him.

“She loved to dance and sing. S-she was great at everything. Strong and passionate.” Rick let out a soft, dreamy sigh. “She picked up knowledge quicker than I did — smart woman.” Rick reminisced, planting his chin on one of his knees.

A bolt of pain reverberated through Morty’s chest at Rick’s fond words. But it wasn’t because he felt pity, or even sympathy. Rather, he felt a bitter, angry feeling at Rick’s unending infatuation with his ex-wife. 

Jealousy. Morty realized. 

“M-maybe you should just..just move on Rick. This whole thing can’t be healthy.” Morty voiced, head turned away when he saw Rick snap his head in his direction.

“I don’t know if you don’t understand how love works but—“ Rick started, letting out an empty chuckle. “Wh-what am I saying? Of course you don’t.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Morty frowned. “What I _do_ understand, is that your wife’s been gone for a million years, Rick!”

“I’m not a million years old!”

“Y-yeah, well, you look like it!” Morty yelled back, standing up over Rick’s seated form now.

Rick’s lip twitched momentarily, unibrow drooping down into a furrow. “What the hell is up with you Morty?”

Before he knew it, hot tears dragged down Morty’s cheeks. “I-I-I..” he began, gasping for air when a sob broke from his chest. “Maybe I don’t l-like being the substitute for your ancient heartbreak, Rick!” His arm went up to hide and wipe away the tears, embarrassment flooding him at being seen by Rick crying.

Rick stood from his spot, gripping Morty’s forearms and wrenching them away from the boy’s face. Rick gazed at Morty’s wet eyes with a flat expression. 

“Morty, you’re not a _substitute_ ,” he enunciated, the words making some part of Morty flourish joyously. The feeling was short lived. “Y-you’re just..” Rick’s eye twitched as he paused, struggling to finish his sentence. “You’re just a piece of meat I keep around until I get _hungry_.”

Ripping his arms away from Rick’s clawed grasp, Morty leaned forward and dedicated every ounce of strength he had into slapping the vampire. The hit hardly caused Rick to flinch, but he look stunned all the same. Morty’s hand burned from the impact, his palm an angry red color like he had slapped a boulder.

With one last tearful gaze, Morty took a step backward. Then another. Until he whirled around and dashed away from the dirt clearing and into the twisting trees of the forest. 

“Morty!” Rick yelled after his momentary shock, “G-Get your ass back over here!” He screamed, his foot coming down in a stomp like a scolding parent. Morty ignored his commands, disappearing into the enveloping darkness of the bare trees. 

Rick hesitated in his pursuit after the boy, glancing back at the faraway image of his castle in the distance. He nibbled his pale lips with his growing fangs, eyes flashing darkly. Deciding to hunt after Morty would result in leaving the comfort of his territory and the grave of his wife. Every second wasted meant Morty would travel further away from his influence.

Meanwhile, Morty continued running. Running until his lungs burned like they were filled with chemical acid and his frantic breathing turned into desperate gulps of air. Eventually, he planted his hand against the bark of one of the trees, panting. Glancing behind him, he was surprised he didn’t immediately see Rick.

With some seconds to spare, Morty took the time to intake his surroundings. This part of the forest was foreign to the boy. Unlike the lush part of forest Rick guided Morty through, this part looked more like the woods; cluttered, bare trees twisting over him like they were trying to swallow him up. Most of them looked dead, charred by some past fire. Panic coursed through Morty’s veins as he realized he was utterly lost. 

Anxiety muddling any coherent thoughts, Morty played with his hands, backing into a solid form behind him. He froze, turning around quickly to see Rick’s panting form. 

“G-god, fuck—“ Rick wheezed, bending down to plant his hands onto his knees and catch his breath. When Rick dipped down his head, Morty caught sight of tall, goat-like horns erect from the messy tuft of pale blue hair. The sight horrified Morty. 

“Rick? W-why do you—“

“We’re going home, _now.”_ Rick cut him off, barking out the command crudely. When he straightened his body, he was gazing at the boy with a seething expression, eyes constricted into thin slits.

Morty flinched in reply, shaking his head and yelping when one of Rick’s arms sprang out from the darkness and gripped his smaller wrist.

“Rick you’re-you’re hurting me!” Morty cried out when the vampire lifted up the boy into the air by his wrist, the tips of toes barely scraping across the dirt underneath him. 

“Welcome to the club.” Rick hissed, his crushing grip around Morty’s wrist shaking slightly from exertion. Morty took notice of the small crack in the vampire’s strength and squirmed around, kicking his legs wildly to throw off Rick’s balance. 

Rick was successfully tipped over by the sudden imbalance, causing him to stumble forward. The two fell to the dirt ground together with Rick on top. Expecting the vampire to crush him under his weight, Morty squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the suffocating weight that never came. Slowly, he cracked open his eyes, his eyes widening when he realized a large portion of Rick’s black horns had impaled through the bark of one of the surrounding trees, lodging him there. The vampire had his hands pressed against the bark of the tree, struggling and failing to pull the demonic pair of bones out. 

Quickly, Morty shuffled his body out from under Rick’s kneeling body, panting from the adrenaline that pumped through him. Rick’s black pupils now glowed that familiar red from the library when he glanced at Morty silently. 

_This is my chance for freedom._ Morty thought ecstatically, heart beating in his ears from the realization. Pushing himself into his shaking legs, the boy began to leave the scene. 

“Morty.”

The boy in question froze, the desperate crack in Rick’s voice making him pause. 

“I-If you leave me here, I’m..I’m going to die.” Rick said, making Morty turn to look at the pitiful kneeling body of the vampire. Rick couldn’t turn his head to look at the boy completely, his red eyes tilted to the corners of his eyeballs to try to gaze at him.

“I’m n-n-not going to fall for your tricks, Rick!” Morty retorted, voice shaking fearfully.

“I’m not bullshitting you!” Rick’s gravelly voice answered, broad shoulders slumping in defeat. He paused to collect himself before continuing. “I’ll be honest with you, Morty. The further I am from my castle and the longer I’m away from it, the weaker I am. Among other things, that means I can’t conceal my real appearance.”

Morty watched on wordlessly, keeping an adequate distance between them for extra measure. 

“If y-you’re going to leave me like this, then kill me. Think of it as a mercy kill, Morty,” Rick said seriously, the lack of humor in his tone making Morty tremble, wishing it were a bad joke. “The sun will burn me alive once it comes up, that’ll hurt a lot more than cutting off my head.”

“C-cutting off your head?” Morty squeaked in question, leaning his body against one of the bare trees to keep from collapsing on his knees.

“That’s the only way to kill me,” Rick clarified, his long forked tongue unrolling from between his growing fangs. “Shit. I-I didn’t think a fucking _Morty_ would end me. After Diane died, I always looked forward to my death. But shit..shit now that it’s here, I’m scared. I’m actually scared, Morty. _Me._

Morty blinked away the tears threatening to fall, his body yearning to stay by Rick’s side, despite the logical part of himself screaming to run and never look back. This was his chance to freedom. He would never get another big chance like this if he saved Rick.

Before he knew it, Morty was running to Rick’s side, grabbing onto the vampires dirtied clothing and pulling to try to dislodge him from the tree he was stuck to. 

“Morty? What the fuck are—“

“Shut up Rick!” Morty sobbed, dropping on his knees behind Rick to wrap his arms around the older man’s abdomen and pull. Rick seemed to get the memo, pushing against the tree to aid Morty in his task. After a minute of gritted teeth and flexing muscles, the pair ceased their efforts.

“M-Morty this isn’t going to work.”

“It _will_! It _has_ to!” Morty bit back, sweat beading at his forehead. “J-just..jeez Rick, just use your powers!” He barked desperately. “C-can’t you use your superhuman strength to get out of this?!”

“Like I said, I’ve been away from my castle too long,” Rick stated, a hint of hopeless exhaustion in his expression. “On top of that, we’re too far away. I’m an empty vessel of uselessness like this. A bag of shit.”

The way Rick closed his eyes after speaking — a defeated raise of his unibrow like he accepted his fate — made Morty’s heart clench painfully, the tremble in his hands increasing as hopelessness set in like a spreading virus. 

“I’m..I’m so sorry, Rick,” Morty whispered, crawling around the vampire’s body and slipping himself between Rick’s arms which remained pressed against the bark of the tree. “If I wasn’t...if I didn’t act like a jealous child, we wouldn’t be here.” He admitted, arms wrapping themselves around Rick’s neck. His eyes bore up into Rick’s red ones, this time, without fear. Rick’s body draped over his smaller one like tent. Morty rested his head against the dirt under him, cursing himself for tearing up.

Rick’s watchful eyes remained on Morty’s lying body beneath him, his hands coming down to caress the boy’s cheek. “I’m the one that literally f-fucking kidnapped you. I..” Rick took a deep breath, his words stopped by Morty’s hand clamping over his lips.

“You don’t have to a-a-apologize, Rick.” Morty said softly, surprised when Rick moved his hand.

“I wasn’t g-gonna apologize. I was going to tell you that I love you.” 

Morty blinked once, then another time.

“H-huh? B-but Rick you said—“

“I know what I said before. Listen to what I’m saying right now Morty.”

Morty quieted himself, glossy eyes on the vampire perched above him. 

“I love you. God I-I fucking..I love you so much Morty. Even though there are a million of you. And your IQ is in the negatives,” He chuckled at the pout on Morty’s face. “You’re nothing special, objectively. But..but, shit, I love you anyway.”

Morty leaned up awkwardly, pressing his lips to Rick’s. The kiss was sloppy and dysfunctional due to a mixture between Morty’s lack of experience and Rick’s long projecting teeth and long tongue. But the boy pressed into the affection harder until Rick returned it, snake-like tongue grazing Morty’s trembling lips to receive an invite into the wet cavern. Morty couldn’t help the moan and gag when Rick’s tongue dipped inside, tasting his teeth and tongue before dipping into the back of his throat and tickling his tonsils.

Rick had his hands encased around Morty’s thin waist, his thumbs nearly touching in the grasp. It made Morty feel significantly smaller, dwarfed by Rick’s touch.

When the two parted, a faint string of saliva connected their lips. Morty panted for oxygen, eyes dazed as he looked up at Rick’s craned head, a soft appearance reflected back on the older man’s eyes.

“Rick..I-I love you too. That’s why..that’s why I won’t let you die.”

Ignited with new determination, Morty slipped out from under Rick, standing up to tug at the root of the vampire’s stuck horns. “I-if only I could break them off!” 

“W-With your bare hands? Don’t be ridiculous, Morty. The only thing that could break them is probably another f-fucking vampire or an axe. A really sharp one.” Rick replied bitterly, startled when Morty gasped.

“That’s it! Rick, turn me!” 

“What?!”

“If you turn me, I’ll be able to break your horns!” Morty jumped in the air at the revelation. Rick seemed to catch up quickly, understanding what the boy was insinuating. 

“Morty, that isn’t something to be taken lightly!” He hissed tensely, watching as Morty returned to his position under Rick. The boy pressed up close, tilting his thin neck backward for Rick to access easily. 

Rick watched on, nostrils flaring at the sight of Morty’s porcelain neck. The way the boy’s Adam’s apple bulged out when he tilted his head back made Rick drool, the sticky clear substance dripping down Morty’s skin, disappearing behind his buttoned up pajamas. 

“Do-do you really want me to?” Rick whispered after a short while, red pupils narrowed more so. “I-I need to hear you say it Morty. Give me your verbal consent baby.” 

Morty nearly exploded from the pet name, body quaking like a vibrating phone. “I do! Please, Rick. I want it. I want you.” 

Before he could change his mind, Rick buried his canines into Morty’s soft throat like melting butter, one of his arms wrapped around Morty’s arched back to pull him in closer and resist the boy’s pained thrashing. Morty’s mouth fell into a silent scream, eyes rolling back into his skull. Flashes of black and red dotted his vision and the piercing screaming of someone — he realized it was himself — made his eardrums pulse painfully. When Rick pulled away, Morty whined at the late flood of warm pleasure that came over him. His body felt like it was burning up from the inside, the heat traveling through his veins. 

“O-ooh..oh my god, R-Rick,” Morty moaned shamelessly, his hands reaching up to bury themselves into his own curly brown hair. When his vision cleared up, he saw the red droplets of blood drip down Rick’s chin until the man used his forked tongue to swipe the liquid away. 

“..Orty..”

Morty blinked, a sleepy comfortableness wrapping itself around his body. His ears popped like he came out from under water, and suddenly the sounds of reality came rushing back. He heard Rick calling his name, then the chipping of birds above them. Without trying very hard, Morty could also hear a nearby steam trickling lazily and the trotting of two deers he couldn’t see. The overwhelming feeling derived from his sharpened senses made his head ring. 

“Morty!” Rick called again, making the boy jerk upwards from his momentary distraction.

“R-Rick! Look, I’m..I’m a vampire now!” He said with excitement, smiling as his hands came up to trace his newly formed fangs. 

Rick scowled at him, smacking the boy upside the head despite the impact not hurting at all. “Morty t-that’s great, and we can celebrate this later. But kindly hurry the fuck up, the sun’s coming up.”

“Oh!” Morty cried out, hastily sliding himself out from under Rick once again and standing up. His hands gripped back around the base of Rick’s two horns, tugging at them. Slowly, millimeter by millimeter, the horns began to slide out of the charred, dead bark.

Rick huffed sharply in impatience, worry etched in his features. “Morty, we don’t have _time_ for this! The sun’s c-coming up — are you deaf? Break them off!”

“But..but Rick, how will—“

“Whatever you’re asking, the answer is I’m amazing. Now break them!”

Morty nodded, closing his eyes tightly as he exerted more power into his hands. The bones began bending, the physical tension making the growing cracks white before they snapped like wooden pencils. Rick’s loud, pained wail indicated the task was done. As soon as Rick was separated from the tree, he collapsed on his back with an arch, holding the black stumps in agony. 

“Shit, shit, shitaaahhh!” Rick clenched his jaw with a deep furrow, teary eyes focused on Morty despite his obvious pain. “Let’s-lets get out here, Morty. The sooner the better!”

Hurrying to the older man’s aid, Morty helped him up onto his feet, surprised to realize he could easily manhandle Rick. Without asking permission, Morty plucked him right off his feet, the height difference slightly awkward when he held onto the man like a princess. He flashed Rick a sheepish smile, the other paying him no mind, too preoccupied with empty space on his head.

“Okay, Morty, I-I want you to close your eyes and focus,” Rick watched Morty nod and shut his eyes nervously. “Focus really hard and think about the castle. Think about what it looks like; both inside and outside. Think of the way it smells.”

“I can practically smell those gross old books.” Morty said, focused into a state of meditation.

“Good. Good job Morty, my-my little buddy. My little — my good boy.” 

Morty felt his chest swell at the praise, a smile growing on his face even as his eyes remained closed.

“Imagine yourself traveling through these trees like you’ve felt me do before. Think ofyourself stopping and seeing those double doors of the castle. Of our home.” 

Rick guides Morty with his words, hiding his growing worry when he saw the sun begin to peek over the Citadel’s horizons, the trees’ shadows lifting like a broken spell from the promise of light. His worry is thankfully short lived, Morty successfully able to travel through the curtains of time, stopping at the front steps of the familiar castle. 

Rick’s praise slips away from the tip of tongue when Morty trips over the first step in his spurt of excitement and tumbles down with Rick in his arms. They both groan in unison, Rick’s glare making the boy avert his eyes in embarrassment. 

“S-Sorry Rick.” Morty mumbled, watching Rick dust himself off and stand to push open the doors of the castle. 

“Save it, you-you punk ass.” Rick says, but there’s no bite to his words. He looks back at Morty, the smaller vampire taking note of Rick’s normal appearance trickling into existence until the black stumps disappear and his red eyes return to their normal black, glowing yellow sclera bright. Rick offers him a hand and Morty graciously takes it, startled when Rick yanks him up with a newfound strength. The pull nearly sends Morty flying. 

The thumb brushing over Morty’s hand soothes him as Rick leads them inside, hands interlocked when the doors closed behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cue training montage of Rick teaching Morty how to be a competent vampire*


End file.
